Quantcast
Channel: Atlas Obscura: Articles
Viewing all 11432 articles
Browse latest View live

12 Places that Prove Berlin is a Brilliant Wunderkammer

0
0

A vibrant cat rollercoaster at Spreepark, Berlin's abandoned dinosaur theme park. (Photo: Norbert Löv/CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Germans have a brilliant word for a cabinet of curiosities: the wunderkammer. The word is so great that it has now been absorbed into the English vocabulary to describe an eclectic treasury or cabinet of wonders. In many ways, the city of Berlin itself is a wunderkammer: it boasts an extensive collection of weird, unusual and quirky places. Below, we've compiled our favorite peculiar places in the German capital. 

1. Buchstabenmuseum

article-image

The museum is a testament to both found art and recycling. (Photo: Courtesy of Buchstabenmuseum)

The Buchstabenmuseum, or Museum of Letters, Characters and Typefaces, serves as a testament to not only found art but also the German commitment to recycling; the museum saves old signs and individual neon letters from the garbage. It was established in 2005 by graphic designer Barbara Dechant and museum curator Anja Schulze. Since then, it has become a favorite among letterform enthusiasts around the world, but is fascinating even to those not familiar with the intricate world of typography. 

2. Tieranatomisches Theater

article-image

 The dome was built with an illuminating truss structure to let in light before electricity. (Photo: Matthias Heyde/HU Berlin/CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Tieranatomisches Theater was constructed in 1789 by Carl Gotthard Langhans, the same architect behind the city's iconic Brandenburg Gate, making it the oldest surviving example of academic architecture in Berlin. In its heyday, it played host to several decades of animal dissections, under King Frederik William II, who thought the horses and cattle of the country needed a veterinary medicine school to study their diseases. Now visitors to exhibitions there can experience the classicist theater in all its 18th-century medical glory, without the grisly stench.

3. Mengenlehreuhr 

article-image

The clock is made of 24 lights that blink in patterns that measure a 24-hour cycle–if you can crack the code. (Photo: Muritatis/Public Domain)

Mengenlehreuhr, or “set theory clock,” is thought to be the world’s first clock to measure time in colors and light. Designed like a retro-futuristic conversation piece, the timepiece was first installed in Berlin in 1975, commissioned by the Berlin senate and designed by inventor Dieter Binninger. It consists of 24 lights that blink on and off in patterns that measure a 24-hour cycle for those who can decipher the code. 

4. Spreepark

article-image

Spreepark's prominent Ferris Wheel, now overgrown. (Photo oysteinv/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Spreepark, a 1960s amusement park in southeastern Berlin, has been abandoned for the last 15 years, and looks like it. It was originally constructed by the communist government in East Germany, and intended to be a dinosaur themed amusement park. One of its managers also happened to be a drug dealer, who hid part of his cocaine stash in one of the rides. Due to his criminal activities and the park’s lack of visitors, Spreepark was closed in 2002. A recently installed green fence makes it nearly impossible to get inside, but the promenade around the park allows visitors to gaze upon the abandoned installations and speculate on the histories they hold.

5. The Bierpinsel

article-image

Today, the tower is covered in art by famous street artists such as Honest and Sozyone Gonzales. (Photo: A.Savin/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A tree-like building perches on its trunk in the Steglitz neighborhood of Berlin. Built in 1976 by architect couple Ursula and Ralph Schuler, the Bierpinsel (aka The Beer Brush) is an iconic example of the Brutalism craze. The building was originally equipped with a restaurant and a nightclub, but closed down several times and became a monument to Berlin's sweet and sour urban decay. After renovations, the tower was reopened as “Turmkunst” in 2010 and decorated by famous street artists like Honest and Sozyone Gonzalez, giving it a fresh pop-art makeover.

6. Teufelsberg

article-image

Some of the radomes of the former NSA listening station atop an artificial hill in the Grunewald forest. (Photo: Jochen Teufel/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Teufelsberg, an abandoned NSA field station, is perched atop an 80-meter artificial hill in the city's Grunewald forest. The hill itself has a noteworthy history: created from the post-World War II debris of Berlin, it is higher than the city's highest natural hill. A Nazi military-technical college is still buried deep within it. For a time the hill served as a ski-hill, before it was re-purposed by as a "listening station" by the U.S. National Security Agency. Independent visits to Teufelsberg should be undertaken with caution as there are potentially dangerous openings, but guided tours are available on Sundays. 

7. Bridge of Spies

 
article-image

The Bridge of Spies was once a clandestine meeting place for exchanging captured Cold War spies. (Photo: Gary Blakeley/CC BY 3.0)

During the Cold War, bridges were often go-to venues for prisoner exchanges and covert rendezvous. The Glienecke Bridge, better known as the “Bridge of Spies,” was perhaps the most famous of them all. Originally built in 1907, the bridge connects the Wannsee district of Berlin with the city of Potsdam. During the height of the Cold War, the bridge was a restricted border crossing between East and West Berlin, and it became a spot for exchanging captured spies. Between 1962 and 1986, nearly 40 people were passed across the bridge between Eastern and Western agents. These days it might be more recognizable as the namesake for the 2015 Steven Spielberg film, but you can still spy remnants of the bridge’s former border line, as you clandestinely sneak across. 

8. Spiegelsaal in Clarchens Ballhaus

article-image

The Spiegelsaal has been a glamorous party locale for more than a century. (Photo: Bernd Schoenberger/Spiegelsaal)

Tucked within the side wing of the Clärchens Ballhaus is a glittering mirrored ballroom, the Spiegelsaal, that captures the spirit of Germany’s Wilhelmine and Golden Twenties era. The dancing venue, which is outfitted in chandeliers and decorative stucco, was established in 1913 alongside the better-known music hall, and a bowling alley. But the Hall of Mirrors was badly damaged in WWII, and remained closed for half a century. Finally in 2005 the mirrored ballroom was repaired and reopened to the public, and it’s now a venue for elegant soirées and musical performances.

9. Design Panoptikum

 
article-image

The only way to figure out what all these things are is to visit for yourself and ask the Panoptikum's owner.  (Photo: Anagoria/CC BY 3.0)

The Design Panoptikum, a surreal museum of industrial objects, is part cabinet of curiosities, part horror house. It describes itself as having a “space carnival atmosphere,” and is filled with eerie spare parts, odd mechanical contraptions, rare furniture, and perplexing illustrations. The objects can be loosely traced to the fields of aviation, medicine, film, and more―is the Panoptikum an alien incubator or soft torture chamber? If you’re lucky, the owner will give you a personal tour.

10. Pfaueninsel

 
article-image

This fairytale island of wild peacocks is just a ferry ride away from the city. (Photo: NoRud/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Wild peacocks roam this empty white fairytale castle sitting along the River Havel. At Pfaueninsel, or Peacock Island, you’ll find the peacocks wandering the island’s 243 acres of abundant greenery and abandoned buildings. Originally known as “Rabbit Island” thanks to a small rabbit farm established there in the 17th century, Pfaueninsel was later turned into a plant and animal refuge by Frederick William II, who also constructed the castle, its two towers connected by a bridge. His son gathered a menagerie of exotic animals, which later migrated to the Berlin Zoo―except for the peacocks. Those remained. Today the island can still be visited via ferry.

11. Hansa Studios

 
article-image

The Meistersaal, a former chamber music concert hall, became Studio Two at Berlin's Hansa Studios. (Photo: In3s/CC BY-SA 3.0)

If you want to walk through spaces once pulsing with the energy and acoustics of singers like David Bowie and Iggy Pop, make a visit to Hansa Studios, which bore witness to a number of modern music’s most seminal works. The recording studio is located in a former builders' guild hall originally built in 1913, which served as a chamber music concert hall, cabaret, and cultural hub for artists and writers in the Weimar era. In the 1970s, the building was turned into Hansa Studios, and the neoclassical Meistersaal, a 1910 chamber music concert hall with a polished floor and coffered ceiling, became Studio Two. As you wander through on an official tour, try closing your eyes and imagining Bowie recording Heroes and Iggy Pop trumpeting Lust For Life in Hansa’s regal setting.

12. Liquidrom

 
article-image

The warm salt water floating pool at Liquidrom, colorfully illuminated and echoing with different types of music. (Photo: Aaron Muszalski/CC BY 2.0)

If you’re hunting for a unique spa experience with sci-fi undertones, look no further. From the outside, the Liquidrom, part of the city’s Tempodrom complex, resembles an abstract circus tent structure, a design choice meant to honor the site’s former life as a train station. Inside, the Liquidrom is home to a Himalayan salt sauna, a Finnish steambath, and its centerpiece, a warm salt water floating pool 13 meters in diameter where you can relax as techno or classical music flows around you. You can even hear it underwater.


The Strikingly Well-Preserved Modernist Homes of Pre-Revolutionary Cuba

0
0

(All Photos: Stephen Allen)
In 1957, the last private residence in Havana to be designed by Cuban architect Ricardo Porro was finished. Situated in the Nuevo Vedado neighborhood, it featured a sharply angled roof and a wave-shaped exterior wall. In the nearly 60 years since its completion, little appears to have changed, except for today, it is surrounded by a tall iron fence.

It's not the only modern architecture in town, either. Havana might be more closely associated with image of crumbling Colonial structures, with those oft-photographed brightly colored classic cars. Yet in the 1950s, there was a boom in construction for modernist architecture, for those who could afford it. According to Architectural Digest, it was the Spanish immigrants who first brought the modernisme from Gaudi, followed by Art Deco and other styles in the 1920s. At the time, Cuba was riding high, with one of the most per capita income of any Caribbean country and a thriving nightlife.

article-image

Then, of course, came the Revolution of 1959 and many of Cuba’s architects left the country. Porro, however, returned to Cuba from Venezuela. He was commissioned to work on the National Arts Schools, until his designs fell from favor before leaving in exile in 1966. In the same decade, the Architects Association ceased to exist and the architecture school became known as the "Faculty of Construction Work". 

Recently, photographer Stephen Allen roamed the neighborhood of Nuevo Vedado. The high fence at the Porro home is not unique to the area, as is evident in nearly every photo. Curious, Allen spoke to some residents, who told him they were all erected after the Revolution, but there was no consensus as to why: security, said one, or possibly status.

Although some of the residences are falling into disrepair, their clean lines remain elegant. Here, a selection of the surprisingly lovely mid-century houses lining Cuba's streets.

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

 

article-image

Village Mayor Arrested for Stealing 111 Road Signs

0
0
article-image

Frank Moracco. (Photo: New York State Police)

Frank Moracco has a LinkedIn page, like many working Americans. He has two jobs: mayor of Frankfort, New York, and sign shop supervisor at the state Department of Transportation. 

Those jobs collided in spectacular fashion Monday, when the New York State Police announced Moracco's arrest, accusing him of stealing 111 road signs from the state for the village. 

Maybe Moracco was just trying to do the right thing. State police say he gave the road signs to the village's street department, perhaps thinking that his two jobs were about one thing: synergy. 

But synergy can sometimes (often?) be illegal. Moracco was charged with official misconduct and petit larceny, and given a desk appearance ticket, the state police said. The arrest was a culmination of a probe that began in July 2015. 

Moracco, 60, will continue to serve as mayor, a village official told the Observer-Dispatch, though the village sign supply might be curiously diminished. 

Moracco is set to appear in court next week.

Watch This Chef Turn a Wad of Dough into Yards of Noodles

0
0

Watching someone create hand-pulled noodles is like witnessing magic. First, there's just a block of dough, and moments later, you've got yards of thin, stretchy strings. Fresh, chewy la mian is the work of just 10 talented fingers, and it sure makes boxed pasta look stiff and stale.

If you've never had the experience of seeing Chinese hand-pulled noodles pulled in person, then you should check out this Hong Kong chef dexterously whip the food into form. In the first stretch of the video (pun intended), he is simply getting the dough in shape. But make sure to catch what happens at 2:04. Shapeless wads of dough swiftly and miraculously transform into delectable-looking la mian that seem to stretch for miles.

Every day we track down a Video Wonder: an audiovisual offering that delights, inspires, and entertains. Have you encountered a video we should feature? Email ella@atlasobscura.com.

The Biggest Lion Airlift Ever to Send Dozens of Big Cats to Africa

0
0
article-image

(Photo: Mara 1/CC BY 2.0)

Thirty-three lions start new lives in South Africa, after an environmental group announced that they would be flying the lions to a sanctuary there Friday, having rescued the big cats from circuses in Peru and Colombia. 

Many of them have injuries, or have been declawed, and at least one is missing an eye. But Animal Defenders International, the group behind the flight, said that, ultimately, there will be a happy ending. 

The flight will be the biggest airlift of lions ever, according to the Guardian.

"These lions have endured hell on earth and now they are heading home to paradise," ADI's president Jan Creamer said in a statement

The group was able to rescue the lions after both Peru and Colombia banned them from use in circuses, ADI said. They will be sent to a sanctuary north of Johannesburg, after their plane lands.  

Another ADI official told the Guardian that lions from South America had never before been taken to Africa.

"It's like a fairytale," he said. 

Found: Computer Viruses at a Nuclear Plant

0
0
article-image

The Gundremmingen nuclear power plant in Germany. (Photo: Felix König/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Viruses were found on computers at the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant in Germany, officials said Tuesday.

But there appears to have been no real security threat, the plant's operators claim. 

That's because the plant isn't connected to the internet. 

What would have happened had it been connected? A lot of stolen files, most likely. But at least one of the viruses, known as W32.Ramnit, could have also given a hacker remote control over an infected computer, if that computer was connected to the internet, according to Reuters.

The plant is sequestered from the web, however, making such an attack impossible, officials said. 

The viruses appeared to have been introduced into plant computers though data drives like removable USB flash drives, 18 of which were found to be infected. 

Germany has been moving away from using nuclear power for years; the viruses probably offered further reason to do so. Another reason? The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, which marked its 30th anniversary on Tuesday. The country hopes to be nuclear-free by 2022

The Complaints the FCC Got Because of Super Bowl 50

0
0
article-image

Beyoncé at the Super Bowl. (Photo: Arnie Papp/CC BY 2.0)

A version of this story originally appeared on Muckrock.com.

The FCC has released 45 complaints it received regarding Super Bowl 50, mostly concerning the half-time show. And if you've seen the Saturday Night Live sketch "The Day Beyoncé Turned Black," you already have a pretty good idea of where this is going.

Yes, the overwhelming majority of complaints were directed at Beyoncé's performance of "Formation," which was labeled divisive...

article-image

disgraceful...

article-image

disgraceful and disgusting...

article-image

 

disgraceful and offensive...

article-image

racist...

article-image

racist (sic)...

article-image

anti-police...

article-image

anti-family...

article-image

anti-America...

article-image

anti-everything that isn't the Black Panthers, really...

article-image

And most damning of all, sorely lacking in "Single Ladies."

article-image

A few complaints didn't even bother to provide any details beyond "Beyoncé," as if she had become her own transcendental signifier for Middle American fury.

article-image

It wasn't all Bey-rage, however - you have some legitimate gripes about the deaf community getting snubbed...

article-image
article-image

this somewhat less legitimate gripe about being haunted by the ghost of Michael Jackson's junk...

article-image

concerns about the oversexualization of animals and animal hybrids...

article-image

and this guy, our Superbowl 50 FCC complaint MVP:

article-image

Read the full complaints here.

The Most Beautiful Tulip in History Cost as Much as a House

0
0
article-image

Behold the Semper Augustus. (Image: Public domain)

Adriaan Pauw was a powerful man. He was a director of the Dutch East India Company, the owner of an entire town, and a diplomat sent to the courts of France.

Today he’s most often mentioned in connection with a flower.

Like many wealthy men in the Netherlands of the 17th century, Pauw kept tulips. In his garden, he had hundreds of them, gathered around a gazebo paneled with mirrors that multiplied clusters of flowers into armies of straight-standing stems. This was an ostentatious display of wealth: at the time, a tulip bulb could cost as much as a cow, a parcel of land, or even an entire house.

Among the most valuable tulips, there was one that was said to be more beautiful and more rare than all the others: the Semper Augustus. A mysterious collector owned almost all of them—and some tulip historians believe that collector was Pauw.

article-image

The best flower goes at the top. (Image: Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder/Public domain)

Tulips showed up in Europe in the 16th century, having traveled from their wild habitat in central Asia, through the Ottoman Empire, to Vienna. By the 1630s, the Dutch were obsessed.

In this decade, tulip prices spiraled insanely upwards: they were the Beanie Babies of their day, prized by collectors beyond their obvious worth. The most valuable bulbs produced “broken” flowers—instead of being one solid hue, the petals had streaks of color running across paler backgrounds. Of these, the Semper Augustus became the most famous, in part because it was most scarce: at one point, only 12 bulbs of the flower were said to exist.

But it was also beautiful. Its background color was pure white; the flames that ran along its petals were deep crimson.

article-image

Semper Augustus, times two. (Image: Brandemandus tulip book/Public domain)

“What usually happens when the tulip is broken is that you get a quite asymmetrical, uneven break,” says Teresa Clements, Secretary of the Wakefield and North of England Tulip Society. What flower fans are looking for is a “perfect, symmetrical, even pattern” of pure color—a refined but vigorous flower.  

“Most often, the two colors of broken tulips ran in long, continuous strips down the petals,” writes Anna Pavord in The Tulip. But Semper Augustus was special: “the red color breaks into flakes, symmetrically set around the outsides of the petals.” The rest of the flower complemented the bulb, too:  “It had a slender stem that carried its flower well clear of its leaves and showed off its vivid colors to the best effect,” writes Mike Dash in Tulipomania. Pavord calls the flower a “masterpiece.”

article-image

A bevy of broken tulips. (Image: Hans_Bollongier/Public domain)

In the 17th century, no one knew what made a tulip break. Trying to cultivate a broken tulip was like trying to win the lottery, a game of chance soaked in ritual. Growers believed if they fertilized their field with pigeon dung or plaster from old walls, they might produce a break. Others took a more direct approach, by sprinkling the soil with their preferred pigments, or tying a bulb that had produced a red flower with one that had grown white.

Few people ever actually saw a Semper Augustus flower. The man who held a near monopoly on the small supply—not everyone agrees it was Pauw—refused to sell his bulbs, which drove up the price. In 1638, one was advertised for 13,000 florins, the price of a nice house. That was the year the market for tulips in the Netherlands crashed.

article-image

A lesser broken tulip. (Image: Pieter Holsteyn/Public domain)

In the 20th century, the cause of the beautiful breaks was finally identified. Viruses infect a tulip bulb and cause its second layer of color to be expressed only in parts of the flower. The viruses aren’t good for tulips, exactly: broken tulips are not quite as vigorous as pure-colored ones. If those viruses are transmitted to lilies, they can kill the lilies, but the tulips can handle it.

Today, the Semper Augustus is long lost, but tulip lovers still grow broken tulips. Some, like the Habit de Noce, were first broken in the 1790s. “The difficulty is keeping them unbroken,” says Clements. When English tulip lovers raise a good breeder tulip with good-shaped flowers and a pure base color, they send bulbs around the country to keep them virus-free. “Eventually they almost all break,” says Clements. Most are bad breaks and have to be discarded. But some have those elusive qualities—symmetry and pure color flaming across the petal.  


Sold, for Over $18,000: A Skullcap Worn by the Pope

0
0
article-image

Congrats on selling my hat, bro! (Photo: Republic of Korea/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Among other, more religious things, the pope is known for his hats. And, unsurprisingly, even his most simple chapeaus can fetch a high price at auction.

Last Sunday saw the latest pope hat to sell: a simple white skullcap that once belonged to Pope Francis. The price? Over $18,000 at auction.

The silk cap, known as a zucchetto, is the traditional head cover of Catholic holy men, similar in some ways to a yarmulke. They were first introduced to the Catholic faith in medieval times, as a way to keep a priest’s head warm. Today, they have a more formal meaning, but can be worn by any ordained member of the clergy. The color of the cap is determined by rank, with the white zucchetto being reserved for use only by the pope.

According to the National Catholic Review, it is tradition for the pope to exchange his current cap with one given to him by a member of the faithful (a brand new zucchetto can be purchased for under $100), and this was how Frederik Jamees, the seller of the cap, came into possession of the pope’s hat. Usually a seller of slot machines, Jamees got the hat after it was obtained by an Italian TV host who had traded caps with Pope Francis in 2014. A video of the exchange was attached to the auction:

Jamees sold the cap on online auction site catawiki for €16,100 or about $18,240, and said that at least some of the profits will be donated to an Israeli children’s charity. The price was boosted not just because of its association with a religious figure, but by the popularity of the current pope. Other items related to the chill pontiff have also sold for higher-than-normal prices at auction, including a Fiat he rode in, which sold for $82,000 in January.  

Found: James Monroe's Actual House

0
0
article-image

This was just the guest house (with a later addition). (Photo: RebelAt/Public domain)

James Monroe, one-time ambassador to France, Governor of Virginia, and fifth president of the United States, may not have been as modest as he seemed.

Monroe’s estate, outside Charlottesville, Va., features a relatively small house that, for years, was considered to be the home Monroe lived in starting in 1799. It’s a much smaller building than, for comparison, Jefferson’s nearby Monticello mansion.

Turns out, it was the guest house.

Historians have long considered the house standing on Monroe’s property to be part of his house, a wing which survived a fire in the mid-19th century. But when the caretakers of the property dated the house’s wood, it showed the house was first built in 1818, well after Monroe moved onto this piece of land.

They matched that date to a piece of information in one of Monroe’s letters—he had built a small building on the property that same year, intended for guests to stay in.

Now, archaeologists have found the foundation, about 70 feet long, of another house, that dates back further in time. It was, says William & Mary, the college that owns the property, “a free-standing and sizable house.” This, they now believe, was Monroe's actual house—a mansion actually fit for a future president from Virginia. 

Bonus finds: 4,000-year-old antlers

Every day, we highlight one newly found object, curiosity or wonder. Discover something amazing? Tell us about it! Send your finds to sarah.laskow@atlasobscura.com.

Take a Tour of Trendy Panama City, Led by Former Gang Members

0
0
article-image

Alexis Montenegro leads a group of tourists through Plaza Herrera. (Photo: Tania Rodriguez)

Ten years ago, the infamous gang leader Mario LaMafia jumped off a fifth-floor balcony of Panama City’s American Trade Hotel while running from a spray of gunfire. He survived both the leap and three bullet wounds to the chest.

“Now he works at the fish market down the street,” 65-year-old Santiago LaBastid tells me with a mischievous, toothless grin.  

LaBastid and I are in secret stairwell beside the back entrance to the hotel. The walls along the staircase are papered with photos of graffiti; mysterious symbols and artifacts and out-of-context phrases.

article-image

The wall at the American Trade hotel. (Photo: Tarina Rodriquez)

He points to an image of a curvaceous mermaid and says it was drawn by the street artist Tita La Maldita. She knows her way around a can of spray paint, but get on her bad side and you’ll wind up with a swift cut to the neck.

The images are relics from inside this building before it was a $200-a-night destination hotel, he explains. Not long ago, its rooms were inhabited instead by drug addicts, sex workers and gang members.

article-image
The American Trade hotel. (Photo: David Thai)

“This place was ground zero for drugs and prostitution,” LaBastid says with a mischievous, toothless grin. “All the gangs across town would congregate here to take care of business.”

We leave the hotel, pushing past tanned men and women in flowing dresses and linen shirts. Some of them sling camera equipment around their necks. It’s opening weekend of Panama City’s international film festival, and industry insiders have overtaken the lobby. They’re laughing and networking and sipping watermelon margaritas.

article-image

LaBastid in the alleyway outside Fortaleza's headquarters. (Photo: Carly Schwartz)

A few cobblestone blocks away, in front of an alleyway with a fresh coat of yellow paint, LaBastid introduces me to Alexis Montenegro. Montenegro, 30, used to be one of the leaders of Casco Viejo’s formidable Ciudad de Dios gang. He’s spent time in jail. His teardrop tattoo suggests he may have killed someone. His mild-mannered demeanor makes that hard to believe.

Montenegro, along with a handful of his friends, defected from Ciudad de Dios nearly a decade ago. They grew up together in Casco, which was long considered one of the most dangerous areas of Panama City. As the neighborhood started to transform–with the help of deep-pocketed developers enchanted by the colonial architecture and waterfront locale–the men decided to take a cue from their surroundings. 

article-image

Casco balconies. (Photo: Carly Schwartz)

“We realized if we kept doing what we were doing, we would either end up in the grave or in jail,” Montenegro says. “We had babies at home. We didn’t want to put our families’ lives at risk anymore.” 

Montenegro and his pals run Fortaleza, a tour company that takes curious travelers on uncensored journeys through Casco. The group’s head honcho, Jafet Glisan, is a minister who’s getting his license to practice human rights law. LaBastid, who leads the English-speaking tours, is a Panamanian-born army veteran who spent 42 years living in the United States, mostly on the streets, before returning home.

article-image

Stopping for a bite to eat in Casco. (Photo: Tarina Rodriguez)

Each tour culminates in mojitos and an al fresco meal of whole fried fish in the yellow alley, which used to be Ciudad de Dios’ main gathering space. Now it serves as both Fortaleza’s office space and a small outdoor restaurant. The men hope the eatery will soon gain as much popularity as the tours, of which they give dozens per week.

Montenegro shows us Fortaleza’s logo above the office door. It’s shaped like a shield and features, among other icons, a Sisyphean figure that symbolizes the heavy load each of the tour guides still carries from his past.  

article-image

Street art in Casco. (Photo: Carly Schwartz)

According to Montenegro, there are still roughly 200 gangs in Panama today, but none of them operate in Casco anymore. Now the area feels like a sort of dilapidated Disneyland, pastel and polished and full of tourists but still rough around the edges. Art galleries and bed & breakfasts with second-story balconies share the same blocks as roofless urban ruins, but the abandoned structures give off an air that’s more charming than crumbling.  

Many families still squat inside the unclaimed spaces. Someday rich people will pay them to move out, LaBastid says. But for now they’re not going anywhere. He introduces us to a few such denizens as we walk. Children play on stoops as women in sundresses bounce infants on their hips. A man in a page-boy cap pushes an ice cream cart. Reggaeton blasts from passing cars.

article-image

A group on the tour in Cosco. (Photo: Tarina Rodriguez)

We pause beside the remains of a hulking brick wall. It formed the entrance to Casco in the 17th century, when the neighborhood was the city’s focal point. Back then, the walls were built thick and high in an attempt to blockade the Dutch pirate Henry Morgan, who was on a quest to steal the city’s famed golden altar. Most of the walls are gone now, but the golden altar is still safely sequestered in a church down the street.  

Around the corner, LaBastid takes us to the childhood home of Panamanian horseracing legend Lafitte Pincay, Jr. It’s a ramshackle four stories of peeling paint and dark, shutterless windows. Pincay has moved on to fancier digs, according to LaBastid. Today his nephew squats inside.

article-image

An aerial view of Panama City. (Photo: f.ermert/CC BY 2.0)

La Voie, the hottest nightclub in town, is on the waterfront across the way. “That was the best place to get killed,” LaBastid says. Murder victims’ bodies would be hidden in a network of tunnels accessed through the basement.

It’s one of Montenegro’s favorite stops on the tour because it’s a metaphor for Fortaleza. “We changed just like the neighborhood did,” he says. “We want to show others that they can change, too.”

Read a Japanese Region's New Anti-Flatulence Brochure for Tourists

0
0

So you're heading to Hokkaido, Japan! Very exciting. Do you have your toothbrush? Do you have your SIM card? Do you have the booklet reminding you not to fart? No? Here you go.

Following a rash of bad experiences with foreign visitors, the Hokkaido Tourism Organization released an educational brochure last summer aimed at making some subtle cultural differences slightly more explicit. After complaints that it was patronizing and maybe a little too explicit, they recently revised it, and added an English-language version as well, Japan Times reports.

The old guide, "Common Sense When Traveling Hokkaido," was released last August, in Chinese only. It featured multiple illustrations of bad tourist behavior—throwing used toilet paper in the trash; wearing pajamas in the lobby—marked as such with giant red X's. When Chinese tourists complained that this was patronizing, the bureau softened their tone.

article-image

A selection from the new etiquette guide. (Image: Hokkaido Tourism Organization)

This version is called "The Traveler's Etiquette Guide to Hokkaido," and features gentle explanations instead of glyphs. "For example, the old version indicated that ripping open packaging before purchasing a product, which is acceptable in China, is 'a crime,'" explains JT. "The new version says instead, 'In Japan, you can buy products with a sense of security that they are good, without opening their packages.'"

It also counsels travelers to always be on time, to refrain from stealing cutlery, and that Japanese people prefer "Everything with Modesty—Even Belching!" Tens of thousands have been printed, and copies will soon be available in inns and hotels across the region. You can also read the whole thing here—and if you're going to Japan, you should, you gassy animal.

Every day, we track down a fleeting wonder—something amazing that's only happening right now. Have a tip for us? Tell us about it! Send your temporary miracles to cara@atlasobscura.com.

People Increasingly Identify as Global—Not National—Citizens

0
0
article-image

(Photo: NASA/Public Domain)

People across the world increasingly identify as global citizens, a new BBC poll says, eschewing national identity.

Global identity was felt most strongly in developing countries like Nigeria, China, and Peru, while Germans and Russians felt the opposite, strongly identifying with their nationalities. 

In the U.S., according to the poll, a little less than half of Americans said that they were global citizens. 

The exact definition of global citizenship was left for respondents to interpret, but, as the BBC says, the poll results this year were probably heavily influenced by the migrant crisis in Europe, as countries grapple with hundreds of thousands of refugees who have streamed in.

That might explain, for example, why just over a quarter of Germans said they were global citizens. The country let in a million refugees last year, setting off a process which has not always gone smoothly.

Elsewhere, Russia had by far the least amount of residents identifying as global citizens, with less than a quarter. Nigeria, on the other hand, led the pack with 73 percent of their populace identifying globally. Others in the top 10 include Spain, India, and Canada. 

Behold the Whoosh Bottle, Science's Coolest Fire Experiment

0
0

Behold, the whoosh bottle. You may have seen it before, in a science classroom, since it's a popular experiment designed to demonstrate the large amount of chemical energy produced in the combustion of alcohols. If you have not, thankfully there is a corner of YouTube dedicated to videos of whoosh bottles being set ablaze. 

The bottles contain a mixture of air and alcohol, and the varying concentrations of alcohol determine the speed and intensity of the reaction. The vessels themselves must be made of polycarbonate; any other type of material could be prone to combustion or explosion, and could result in dangerous shrapnel flying everywhere.

If your initial thought is, "Let's get drunk and try this in the office," first of all, same. Secondly, please don't actually try this at home. The whoosh bottle experiment is, needless to say, very dangerous and should only be carried out in a carefully controlled laboratory environment.

Here is a particularly feisty whoosh bottle, whose loud flame burns bright and orange and almost three feet high.

This video shows three whoosh bottles of differing concentrations of alcohol, producing three different kinds of burns. Who knew third-period chemistry could be this much fun?

The first whoosh that this guy gets with his giant whoosh bottle is underwhelming, but the one he manages at around the 1:30 mark is maybe the most satisfying whoosh you'll ever hear.

These guys decided to take the Whoosh Bottle™ and step things up a notch. Instead of igniting a whoosh bottle filled with alcohol and air, they ignite a whoosh bottle filled with pure oxygen and gas. You know, the kind you fill a car up with. The ensuing whoosh is... well, to say the least, extreme.

Every day we track down a Video Wonder: an audiovisual offering that delights, inspires, and entertains. Have you encountered a video we should feature? Email ella@atlasobscura.com.

The Urban Legend of the Government's Mind-Controlling Arcade Game

0
0
article-image

What was Polybius, and did it ever exist? (Photo: albund/shutterstock.com)

In a suburban arcade near Portland, Oregon, in 1981, a dull, digital glow bounced off the faces of teenagers who clutched joysticks, immersed in the game. Tiny lines and dots danced or exploded with high-pitched beeps across them all, but one game cabinet, Polybius, drew the longest lines.

Gamers who tried it couldn’t stop playing, and began acting oddly: they were nauseous, stressed, had horrific nightmares. Others had seizures or attempted suicide, many felt unable to control their own thoughts. It was only later that they recalled how Polybius was serviced more often than other games. Men in black suits opened the machine every week, recorded its data, and left, with no interest in its coins. Soon after it appeared, the mysterious arcade game vanished without warning—taken by the men in black suits, leaving no record of its existence.

That’s the story, at least. This legend is one of the big unsolved mysteries of the gaming world, though most concede that the game never existed. It’s since become an urban legend on gaming and conspiracy websites and the internet horror wiki Creepypasta, and like all good stories, it is kept alive by its fans.  

 

It’s uncertain just how far back the Polybius tale goes, but the earliest known discussion of it is thought to be from 1998, when a mysterious description appeared on the vintage gaming website coinop.org. The current entry for Polybius states that the game “had a very limited release, one or two backwater arcades in a suburb of Portland,” and according to rumors it was “developed by some kind of weird military tech offshoot group” and “used some kind of proprietary behavior modification algorithms developed for the CIA.”  

The 1998 post was shared with others in 2000 on a precursor to internet forums called Usenet, and seemingly sparked further lore about the game; by 2003 it appeared in a list of urban legends in GamePro magazine. In coinop.org’s comment section in 2006, someone by the name of Steven Roach added to the story: it was created by a company he and a few other naive programmers began, called Sinneslöschen, he explained. They were hired by a separate “South American company” to do the work, he claimed; they were merely in over their heads with their advanced, accidentally dangerous graphics.

article-image

The possible title shot from Polybius, as featured on the website coinop.org. (Photo: Courtesy coinop.org)

In response, coinop.org amended its entry in 2009 with a rebuttal, saying “Steven Roach is full of himself, and knows nothing about this game.” The response claimed staff was planning to sort it all out by flying to the Ukraine; “Stay tuned.”

As with most legends, the details are evasive. No one even has a copy of the original Polybius game file (which are often found and shared by vintage game lovers), so no one can agree on what the game was actually like: was it a puzzle game, or a shooter game? What kind of graphics did it use?

article-image

Atari's Tempest, the arcade game that Polybius is compared to. (Photo: frankieleon/CC BY 2.0)

Polybius, or at least the simulations fans have made of the legendary game, was disorienting and confusing. In it colorful geometric shapes bend and fold from a center portal like some sort of digital acid trip. If you’re prone to seizures, the simulation may actually trigger them. According to legend, the intense combination of vector and raster graphics in Polybius—which was supposed to be impossible, at least back in 1981—made the mind susceptible to subliminal messages from the U.S. government. 

While details about the game are ambiguous, its story has roots in truth. Just a few decades before Polybius supposedly terrorized Oregon gamers, the government really was secretly testing unwitting subjects. MKUltra, an unethical government-led experimental program of the 1950s involving LSD, was uncovered in 1975 by the Church Committee of U.S. Congress and an investigation of the CIA, whose predecessor controlled the program.  

article-imageThe Senate Report into Project MKULTRA. (Photo: US Government/Public Domain

Many of MKUltra’s subjects did not know they were part of the tests—all designed to explore brainwashing and confession techniques. Despite an attempted cover up, a cache of 20,000 documents were revealed in 1977, and more information was declassified in 2001—showing over 185 researchers and 80 institutions participating in experiments with mind control, resulting in terrible effects on the research subjects.

Reports of injuries from video games actually happened too, though from entirely different (and real) arcade games. A newspaper from the Portland area at the time reports that a 12-year-old boy named Brian Mauro got sick after drinking coca-cola and playing Asteroids for 28 hours (an arcade representative said they were “massaging his hands” to keep the kid going.) Another boy at the same arcade on the same day experienced a seizure from Atari’s game Tempest—a puzzle game with fast-paced, disorienting graphics that Polybius is frequently compared to.

Even the government-video game connection is real; the army and the marines have and still use video games to train soldiers. What’s more, shady arcade owners sometimes dabbled in illegal gambling, so the FBI may have actually been walking around arcades and checking machines for evidence.

article-image

1980s arcarde games on display in New Jersey. (Photo: Rob DiCaterino/CC BY 2.0)

Combine all of that with the existence of the short-lived 1985 game Polly Play, an eight-game arcade cabinet that was recalled (possibly, according to Skeptoid, for copyright concerns), and you have a pretty solid foundation for a massive urban legend. The name Polybius could have been a misconstrued version of Polly Play, or an intentional reference to the cyphering system of a Greek historian named Polybius, born around 200 BCE.

Polybius itself may not exist, but that hasn't stopped its story from capturing the imaginations of gamers, writers and artists. The Last Starfighter, a 1984 movie in which a man in black recruits a teen for his epic video game skills, might have been influenced by (or influenced) the legend. A 2006 Simpsons episode called “Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ‘Em” shows Bart next to a Polybius cabinet, with "Property of the U.S. Government" stamped on the front.

A series called Doomsday Arcade by Escapist Magazine is based on it. Blister Declassified, a three-part series that was supposedly focused on Polybius was canceled before the third installment could be released. There’s even a T-shirt, and in 2015 a Kickstarter campaign for a Polybiusdocumentary was in the works, but it unfortunately didn’t get the necessary funding.  

Polybius never seems to completely go away. Some online members of the Vintage Arcade Preservation Society claim to own it; one lists the serial number as “666”. Photos of unknown origin of its screen and cabinet bounce around the internet as “proof” that it exists, and every now and then a supposed sighting of the cabinet shows up.  

A bar in Brooklyn called Barcade created a Polybius cabinet for Halloween in 2012, and it was so convincing that an Instagram post of it attracted believers and instigators; user broyomofo wrote a comment saying: “...please tell me that you didn't activate that machine and it was simply a gag decoration for some sort of party,” and added that they’d played the original game, suffered a seizure, and “became addicted to the point that I kept playing and, for reasons I can't remember, I attempted to commit suicide.” 

 

Bye-bye Polybius. See you next Halloween! #barcade #brooklyn #polybius

A photo posted by Barcade ® (@barcade) on


A few days ago, a Craigslist ad in Los Angeles
advertised a Polybius cabinet for sale—this time, though, the culprit was a prop house for Sony Pictures, which made the cabinets for a movie that was never made. The cabinet has an engraved plaque labeling it “Property of the U.S. Government.” In an email, Andreas Kratky, who is listing the prop, told me that the “Polybius machine was dressed up to resemble all aspects of the myth….They clearly took care to satisfy the nerdism of the gamer community regarding the myth of the game.”

Since posting, the listing has gotten multiple emails commenting on its worth and rarity. “The post has become something like a crystallization point for the imaginations about the game,” Kratky adds.

While many believe it to be an urban legend or hoax, the story of Polybus still has people searching for the one thing that keeps it just out of arm’s reach from fact: hard evidence. It is likely they’ll keep looking for years to come. 


All of Belgium Is Going to Get Iodine Pills in Case of a Nuclear Accident

0
0
article-image

(Photo: Andreas Krischer/CC BY-ND 2.0)

Belgium will soon begin distributing iodine pills to its 11 million residents, a precautionary measure that officials say will help in case of a nuclear accident. 

Two nuclear plants in particular, near the country's border with Germany, are of the greatest concern. Residents who live near the plants, in Tihange and Doel, already get iodine pills from the government.

But officials said Thursday that effectively all of Belgium's residents will soon get the pills, which can stop radioactive material from building up in your thyroid after a nuclear meltdown, according to Agence France-Presse.

Germany, which is in the process of shutting down all of its nuclear plants, has been vocal in trying to get Belgium to completely shut down its two plants, which they say are dangerous.

But Belgium, so far, has held firm. The plants, the country says, adhere to the highest safety standards, even if a still-unexplained and dangerous incident of sabotage in 2014 suggests that Belgium has more to worry about than just plant safety. 

The Fascinating Local Color from Illegal NBA Playoff Streams

0
0
article-image

An NBA All-Star game in Texas. (Photo: Rondo Estrello/CC BY-SA 2.0)

In Houston, I watched an elderly dance troupe called the Space City Seniors entertain the crowd during a timeout. In Charlotte, a small boy with cool sneakers stood alone in the middle of the court and played violin along with top 40 pop songs. An Argentinian circus performer in Portland hefted his brother up using just his legs. I have seen Kiss Cams in Los Angeles, Boston, Memphis, and Oklahoma City, and watched awkward teenage boys across this great nation, and in Toronto, perform the “dab” dance when they see themselves on the Jumbotron.

All of this, without leaving my couch in New York City.

In a world of nationally televised sports, the local flavor of the home team often gets lost. But thanks to some dodgy livestreams (I’ll get to that) and the NBA playoffs, it’s possible to acquaint yourself with some of the incredible hidden corners of American athletic spectacle.

It's not legal, advisable, convenient or in any way ideal; the collateral benefits, though, are fascinating. 

The playoff math alone ensures a wide geographic spread: Half the league’s teams (16) will play at least one round, in a series of between 4 and 7 games. The whole process lasts two months.  Because there are so many games, in so many markets, it is not really possible to watch every single game.  The NBA broadcast rights are a complete and absurdly lucrative mess, divided up between ESPN, ABC, TNT, and TNT’s sister station, NBA TV, as well as dozens of smaller regional channels that own the exclusive rights to broadcast their team within their area. (This is called a “blackout.” If you’re in, say, New York, and the Knicks are playing a game the rest of the country can watch on ESPN, with ESPN’s nice streaming options, you won’t be able to join them; you’ll have to watch on the local channel.) To watch games, you have to have basic cable, broadcast TV, and a package called NBA League Pass, which gives you access to the stuff not on basic cable.  

article-image

A halftime show in Portland. (Photo: Dan Nosowitz)

As a result of the confusion and expense, there are many, many illegal options to watch NBA games. They’re not hard to find; just Google “watch NBA online” and you’ll be directed to dozens of sites based in countries with more lax copyright laws (or simply fewer resources to shut down illegal stuff), like Estonia. They are horrible: peppered with weird racist chat windows, covered in the most sophisticated, infuriating ads on the internet, boasting unreliable and low-quality video.

But some users are figuring out more and more elegant ways to stream. Many streaming platforms offer live-streaming options; YouTube does, though anyone who tries to broadcast a live NBA game on YouTube tends to get shut down quickly. StreamUp and AceStream are more reliable, as are some private communities. (It should be noted here that Atlas Obscura does not advocate illegal streaming. Pay for your content, people.)

Indefensible, yes, but the reason that I’ve stuck with these streams is because they actually offer me something I can’t get otherwise. Namely, they offer the experience of watching the game the way the fans in that market do, just for the length of that game. Many of these illegal sites broadcast streams from the International NBA League Pass, a separate deal available overseas that, starting in the 2014-2015 season, offers the option of watching the home or away feed, and replaces all the commercials with a live feed of the stadium.

article-image

Watching the game. (Photo: Dan Nosowitz)

The guy who runs the best of the sites confirmed that he uses the International NBA League Pass stream (direct quote: “ye ;)”), but did not elaborate on how he has or broadcasts this stream. He did ask me to promote the many good features of his service, which I found sort of surprising given how flagrantly illegal it is. (You can probably find it yourself if you Google around for awhile.)

International League Pass isn’t the only way to get some sense of local color; the regular old domestic NBA League Pass offers the option to watch the home or away feeds for many games. These give you the exact same experience that someone watching a local feed would see: for just a moment, a Bostonian suffering through a frigid winter can pretend to be in sunny Los Angeles, watching a Clippers or Lakers game with Los Angeles commercials and Los Angeles announcers.

These local channels, the ones that have exclusive rights to broadcast, say, Minnesota Timberwolves games to Minnesota, or Dallas Mavericks games to Dallas, or Miami Heat games to Miami—those vary wildly in their commentators.  

“Absolutely, some of the local announcers are great, they're national quality, there are guys who do national broadcasts sometimes,” says Seth Rosenthal, who runs a New York Knicks sub-site for SB Nation. He specifically names the Brooklyn Nets announcers as some of the best in the game, surprising given that the team was this year the second-worst in the league and with even fewer future prospects than the very worst team, the Philadelphia 76ers. “And then there are some guys who are total homers, and they openly root for the home team and complain about every call and it's totally unlistenable and you'd rather just put the game on mute.” 

A “homer,” in sports parlance, is a person who is wildly biased towards their own team. It’s not a great thing for an announcer to be, but some fans will openly define themselves as homers. Discussion of the quality and homer-iness of local announcers is common on forums like Reddit, but one’s local announcer, regardless of how much of a homer, can be comforting. Rosenthal says Walt Frazier, one of the Knicks announcers and a legendary player in his day, is not objectively a good announcer; he’s “exactly like a videogame announcer, where he has like a canned set of things he'll say.” But that doesn’t stop him from being beloved by longtime Knicks fans.

“I've been listening to him call games for my whole life, and it's really warm and fuzzy and familiar to me, and I love him, while acknowledging that he doesn't really have much good analysis to offer, he's often wrong about things, he doesn't watch much basketball outside of the Knicks,” says Rosenthal.

article-image

Local promotions. (Photo: Dan Nosowitz)

The local channels have their own graphics teams, which, with the exception of some major-market teams like the Knicks, the Los Angeles teams, and the Chicago Bulls, are uniformly cheap and delightful. “The New York broadcast is pretty classy, but some of them still broadcast in standard definition, some of them the production is still so low quality and the commercials are unbelievably corny, the graphics are bad, and that's often in smaller markets or where the team isn't as popular,” says Rosenthal.

None of this was available before three years ago. In the early 2000s and earlier, an NBA fan would be able to watch his or her home team, and then maybe once a week a game featuring two other teams. NBA League Pass, starting in the 2013/2014 season, began allowing subscribers to choose either the home feed or the away feed for all games, basically opening up the entire continent of local broadcasters to all NBA fans. And things haven’t become homogenized as a result, at least not yet: the Celtics announcers are still aggressively Boston, the Lakers announcers are as proudly Los Angeles as ever. It’s just that now, fans can see what other fans see, can put themselves in each others’ shoes.

The streams I see, the illegal streams from the International NBA League Pass, go even further. They have no commercials. In their place, they, basically, just leave the cameras on, showing what’s going on inside the arena.

article-image

The crowd participates in the'Dance Cam. (Photo: Dan Nosowitz)

There is no announcer guiding you through what’s happening on-screen, but you get to feel, basically, like you’re right there in the stadium. You see the halftime show, which is almost always a traveling-circus-type-act of people performing gymnastics under harsh lighting or riding a dangerously high unicycle while flipping ceramic bowls onto their heads. (Correction: That last one, a performer named Red Panda, retired for a few years, but appears to be back as of this season.)

article-image

Promoting Bojangles Chicken. (Photo: Dan Nosowitz)

You see cheerleaders promoting free Bojangles Fried Chicken by dancing in the stands while holding boxes of chicken wings.

You see Dwight Howard, perhaps the hammiest player in the NBA, demand that people at his team’s Houston stadium pucker up and kiss for the Kiss Cam. You see a guy lead an entire stadium in a “game” of Simon Says, which is exactly as entertaining as it sounds. You see coaches doing interviews in a corner of the screen, bright lights blinding them, or sweat-suited players shooting around during halftime. You see middle-aged men attempt to shoot three-pointers in exchange for a comped weekend at a nearby casino.

article-image

Supporting Oklahoma City Thunder with the mascot, Rumble the Bison.(Photo: Dan Nosowitz)  

You can legitimately get a sense of a team and of a city from these streams. They play regional music, talk with non-broadcaster accents, and advertise tiny local car dealerships or discount stores.  

You can see the strengths of different teams and different markets: the 76ers doing a Star Wars theme night complete with giveaways, the legendary Lakers dancers, the fabulous organ work of Atlanta Hawks organist Sir Foster.

It makes you want to root for the home team, no matter where your actual home is.

The FBI's Social Media Policies for Agents Are Ham-Fisted Yet Smart

0
0
article-image

(Photo: Federal Bureau of Investigation/Public Domain)

FBI Special Agents are humans, like the rest of us, and they are probably tweeting, and posting stupid photos to Facebook, and maybe sharing memes there as well. 

But they also work for the FBI, which means that the rules of the road are a bit different. Recently, Atlas Obscura requested the social media policy for FBI personnel under the Freedom of Information Act. Last week, the bureau responded, giving us a 30-page document from 2012 that outlined the FBI's guidelines.

The guide covers most of the services we know and love, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but, owing to its age, doesn't mention things Snapchat, Instagram, or Tumblr. Regardless, the rules, broadly stated, would probably apply anywhere. 

And, in this age of oversharing, the rules are actually pretty smart. In short, the FBI says: never tweet, or, if you do, think long and hard, since the FBI's first rule of using social media, it turns out, is don't talk about the FBI. 

"They should refrain from disclosing on any section of their user profiles that they work for the FBI or the Department of Justice," the guide states. "FBI personnel must also consider each word that they post, as these posts will remain indefinitely in cyberspace."

FBI personnel also can't use FBI computers or internet to access social media. And, among other things, the guide says, they shouldn't post about where they go, what kind of work they're doing, or talk about the bureau's "weaknesses, vulnerabilities, or loopholes," according to the guide. (That last one seems obvious.) Many of these rules apply even after an employee has left the agency, the guide says.

Also: tell your kids to stop tweeting that their mom or dad is an FBI agent. Not cool.

article-image

The guide also gives brief and surprisingly non-embarrassing (for 2012) descriptions of a multitude of social-networking sites, like LinkedIn ("the world's largest professional network on the internet"), Twitter ("a microblogging site that allows users to immediately post short text updates"), and Facebook ("allows commentaries, virtual gift exchanges between friends, and photo posting with captioning and commentaries"). 

Better is the glossary, which defines various internet terms, many of which, in 2016, seem self-evident. There's avatar, for example, which the FBI defines as, "Graphical images representing people within the social media arena." All true. The blogosphere is "a term used to describe the totality of blogs on the Internet, and the conversations taking place within that sphere."

Then there's the definition of conversation, which closes with this (mostly) true statement: "A popular (mis)perception of bloggers is that they rant on a virtual soapbox without knowing who is listening."  

article-image

On the appeal of social media for reasons other than broadcasting your location or complaining about your employer: "Social networking and media are potentially attractive to those who want to revive representative democracy, to those who promote participative approaches, or to both." 

Representative democracy is dead? Huh. 

Maybe best is the definition of troll: "A hurtful yet possibly valuable person who, for whatever reason, is simultaneously obsessed with and annoyed/offended by everything written on a particular blog."

It strikes me that "hurtful yet possibly valuable" is as apt a description of social media as one can hope to find. Thanks, FBI. You can read the complete guide here.

A Visual Guide to 11 of the World's Most Baffling Theme Parks

0
0
article-image

This strange waterfall overlooks the Swarovski crystal theme park. (Photo: Costel Slincu/CC BY 2.0

Disney's theme parks might be the best known, but they are far from the most interesting. Across the globe, people have created amusement and theme parks inspired by everything from haute jewelry to construction equipment to dog poop. Before you plan your next trip to the same old Disney park or Universal Studio, consider visiting one of these bizarre theme parks instead.

Sanrio Puroland/Harmonyland
Japan

article-image

Oh hello, kitty. (Photo: Tomohiro Ohtake/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Theme: Hello Kitty and her friends.

This pair of Japanese theme parks is devoted to the Mickey Mouse of the East: Hello Kitty. Puroland is all indoors, while Harmonyland is all outdoors. Both of them are wall-to-wall adorable Sanrio characters.  

article-image

(Photo: Tomohiro Ohtake/CC BY-SA 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Tomohiro Ohtake/CC BY-SA 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Tomohiro Ohtake/CC BY-SA 2.0)

BonBon Land
Holmegaard, Denmark

article-image

This attractive pup's name translates to "Fart." (Photo: Martin Lewison/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Theme: Naked, pooping, vomiting animals. 

Based on the logo characters from a brand of Danish novelty candy, this amusement park is filled with mascots and statues such as a puking rat, a buxom bovine with her teats out, and the centerpiece: a guilty dog surrounded by poop, viewable from a ride called "The Farting Dog Switchback." Kids love it.

article-image

(Photo: Martin Lewison/CC BY-SA 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: EHRENBERG Kommunikation/CC BY 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Martin Lewison/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Wunderland Kalkar
Kalkar, Germany

article-image

Maybe the only place where climbing to the top of a nuclear silo is recommended. (Photo: Koetjuh/Public Domain)

Theme: A repurposed nuclear power plant.

The giant tower in the middle of this German theme park doesn't just look like a nuclear cooling tower, it used to be one. The park was built on the site of an old nuclear plant in the 1990s. The cooling tower has a swing ride inside of it and a climbing wall built onto the outside.

article-image

The swing ride inside the silo. (Photo: Roel van Deursen/CC BY 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Kungfuman/CC BY-SA 3.0)

article-image

(Photo: Kungfuman/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Tierra Santa
Buenos Aires, Argentina

article-image

How's that chicken? (Photo: journeylism/Used with Permission)

Theme: The Bible was full of muscles and spectacle. 

There are several religious and biblical theme parks around the world, but few reach the strange heights of Argentina's Tierra Santa park. It's full of muscle-bound biblical figures, and a 40-foot mechanical Jesus that rises from a skull-covered Golgotha every hour.  

article-image

(Photo: journeylism/Used with Permission)

article-image

(Photo: journeylism/Used with Permission)

article-image

(Photo: Kevin Jones/CC BY 2.0)

Suối Tiên Amusement Park
Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam

article-image

The emperor hopes you enjoy that waterslides. (Photo: pelican/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Theme: A Buddhist waterpark.

Filled with monumental statues of dragons and emperors' faces, this Vietnamese waterpark isn't short on spectacle. The beliefs of animistic Buddhism inform the figures from folklore and legend positioned all around the park. There's also a crocodile kingdom with some 1,500 of the beasts living inside.

article-image

(Photo: Hans Olav Lien/CC BY-SA 3.0)

article-image

(Photo: Mike Fernwood/CC BY-SA 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Mike Fernwood/CC BY-SA 2.0)

World Joyland
Changzhou, China

article-image

Any resemblance to preexisting video game properties is purely intentional. (Photo: Jeremy Thompson/CC BY 2.0)

Theme: Unauthorized use of video game properties. 

Ever wanted to visit the orc villages of Azeroth from World of Warcraft, or battle with aliens among the stars like in Starcraft? With its pixels-made-real statues and decorations, China's World Joyland provides a completely unauthorized version of those experiences.

article-image

(Photo: Jeremy Thompson/CC BY 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Jeremy Thompson/CC BY 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Jeremy Thompson/CC BY 2.0)

Crystal Worlds
Wattens, Austria

article-image

The giant wakes. (Photo: Gegengoliath/Public Domain)

Theme: Swarovski crystals.

Swarovski crystals aren't just for chandeliers and jewelry anymore. At the official Swarovski theme park, they make for some surreal family fun. Originally opened as an expansive museum in 1995, the park was expanded in 2015 to include a huge, hand-shaped hedge maze, and a designer playground tower.

article-image

(Photo: Zeitblick/CC BY-SA 3.0)

article-image

(Photo: Shadowgate/CC BY 2.0)

Kingdom of the Little People
Yunnan, China

article-image

The cast of one of the performances at the park. (Photo: Blorg/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Theme: Uncomfortable performances by people with dwarfism.

China's Kingdom of the Little People is staffed entirely by people with dwarfism. It is set up like a sort of fantasy land, and there are regular performances by the employees throughout the park. The air of exploitation is hard to avoid, but the does provide a number of jobs and a supportive community for the people working there. Visitors can decide how to feel about it for themselves, but they certainly won't forget it.   

Republic of the Children
La Plata Partido, Argentina

article-image

Kids rule, parents drool. (Photo: Patricio Lorente/CC BY-SA 2.5)

Theme: If kids ruled the world.

This pint-sized theme park is set up like a city where everything is built to the size of children, allowing kids to pretend to work at the bank, or in the local government building. Adults will feel like giants, and children will feel like rulers.

article-image

(Photo: Alexrebolledo/CC BY-SA 3.0)

article-image

(Photo: Pablo Garcia/CC BY 2.0)

Ferrari World
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

article-image

It looks like Ferrari is prepared to leave the planet. (Photo: Aziz J.Hayat/CC BY 2.0)

Theme: Ferraris.

Do you like Ferraris? Well then, the luxury car company has just the place for you. Housed inside a colossal red tri-form complex that looks like it's from space, Ferrari World is all about fancy cars and speed. The mostly indoor amusement park is even home to Formula Rossa, the world's fastest roller coaster. 

article-image

(Photo: Kathrin Mezger/CC BY-SA 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Sarah_Ackerman/CC BY 2.0)

article-image

(Photo: Kathrin Mezger/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Ai Pioppi Playground
Battaglia, Italy

article-image

Rickety but fun. (Photo: Oriol Ferrer Mesià/Used with Permission)

Theme: DIY amusement park.

Hidden away in an Italian forest, this tiny amusement park was hand-built over one man's lifetime. Following 40 years of inventive welding, the park is now home to merry-go-rounds, swinging bridges, slides, and self-powered roller coasters. Who needs all the flash of a big-name park when you can get the same thrills from these simple contraptions?

article-image

(Photo: Oriol Ferrer Mesià/Used with Permission)

article-image

(Photo: Oriol Ferrer Mesià/Used with Permission)

article-image

(Photo: Oriol Ferrer Mesià/Used with Permission)

Uncover a World of Magical Nature in the Czech Republic

0
0
The Velka Amerika in Vysoký Újezd offers such remarkable views that you'll find it hard to believe that it is of this world. (Photo: Karelj/Public Domain)

Beyond the awe-inspiring structural wonders of Prague, there lies a hidden magical world in the Czech Republic. The country's natural attractions are rich in the mystical and the ethereal, whether in its spectacular natural formations or in its stunning works of art and architecture directly inspired by nature. Atlas Obscura helps you uncover the magical world within the nature of the Czech landscape.

1. Magic Cave, Prague

article-image

A Prague artist has turned his home into a cave complete with decorative roots and swirling colors, making the experience of visiting the gallery like stepping into a fairytale world. (Photo: andynelstravel)

Among the forests covering Petrin, a small hill in Prague, an artist has established a psychedelic gallery of art within a cave of his own creation. Painter and sculptor Reon Argondian (née Jan Zahradnik) was not content with simply showing his pieces in galleries, so instead he turned his home into the Magic Cave, an old mill building that is now home to the fictional Kingdom of Argondia. Every surface in the cave has the rough natural look of stone accented by large, decorative roots that jut out at irregular angles, and not an inch of the place is without swirling color. As a result, the experience of visiting the gallery is not unlike stepping into a fairytale world.

2. Velka Amerika, Vysoký Újezd

article-image

Middle Earth, or the Czech Republic? Frodo wouldn't look out of place at Velka America, the stunning gorge left in the wake of a former limestone quarry. (Photo: Pavel Koběrský/CC BY-SA 2.5)

Near the village of Mořina, there lies a stunning natural attraction left in the wake of a former limestone quarry. Velka Amerika, which was once one of the largest limestone mines in the Czech Republic, is today a beautiful gorge that would not look out of place in Middle Earth. The large mining crater, which is now occasionally referred to as the "Czech Grand Canyon," offers gorgeous hikes with views of the stunning blue waters that even the most homely of hobbits couldn't pass up.

3. Dripstone Wall, Prague

article-image

Signs along the wall note that, if one stares hard enough, it's possible to make out human and animal faces peering out from within the wall's recesses. (Photo: Yannick Lorlot/CC-BY SA 2.0)

Resting at the heart of Prague's baroque Wallenstein Palace grounds is a famously eerie wall, surrounded by lush gardens. Fashioned in an early baroque style, the grounds were partitioned into several distinct areas, the most secluded and fascinating of which was known as "The Grotto." In this portion of the garden, aspects of real and artificial elements of nature co-mingle. The Dripstone Wall within The Grotto is made from a haunting, uncanny assemblage of stalactite-like rocks, and is rumored to contain secret passageways that wind through its interior. Throughout the wall's nearly 500 years of existence, no one has figured out if this is true, but that hasn't stopped visitors from trying to find a way in.

4. Cesky Raj, Turnov

article-image

The unearthly rock town, Hubra Skala, is one of the most famous sites in the Bohemian Paradise. (Photo: Julius Hrivnac/CC BY-SA 3.0)

The word “paradise” might conjure images of a luscious beach, cerulean waves, or hammocks stretched between palm trees–but the Czech Republic offers a different, yet similarly compelling, take on the term. The forests surrounding Turnov, only a day-trip away from Prague, offer a mystical version of utopia. Cesky Raj, or the Bohemian Paradise, is a protected area in the north of the country, covered in majestic forests, hilltop castles and volcanic pillars. Among the sites in the area, the Hruba Skala or rock town, is the most famous. The bright white of the pillars contrasts strikingly with the deep greens of the surrounding woodland, and creates a scene so beautiful that it seems otherworldly.

5. Sky Walk, Dolní Morava

article-image

The Sky Walk atop a peak in the Králický Sněžník Mountains makes visitors feel as though they are flying through the mountains. (Photo: Courtesy of Dolní Morava Relax & Sport Resort)

Few things could feel more magical than soaring through gorgeous landscapes of ice and snow, free as a bird. Though humans can't quite fly through the mountains yet, fortunately for us, the Czech firm Fránek Architectshas been able to reproduce that exact feeling with their extreme Sky Walk. The structure is essentially a giant mountain slide which sits atop a peak in the Králický Sněžník Mountains. You can either go down the traditional way, or if you're feeling less active, the Sky Walk boasts a mesh web inside its highest loop, which visitors can lay down on to feel as though they are floating through the clouds.

6. Brno Dragon, Brno

article-image

A stereoscope of the proud Brno citizens standing below their conquest, a fearsome “dragon.” (Photo: josefnovak33/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Hanging in the Old Town Hall of Brno is the carcass of an actual dragon, or so the originators of the legend would have you believe. The story goes that the dragon once terrorized the Moravian city, savaging the citizens and their livestock. No one knew how to stop the dragon, until a visiting butcher came up with a master plan, and sewed a bunch of caustic lime into an animal carcass to poison the dragon. However, the body of the dragon that is used to prove the veracity of this tale is actually the body of a crocodile. The taxidermied reptile in question is so enormous that it’s not hard to see why the people of Brno believed it was a mythological creature.

7. Velké Losiny Château, Velké Losiny

article-image

One of the courtyards of the chateau—not all that it seems. (Photo: Petr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

This 16th century chateau in Velké Losiny, a small town east of Prague, appears charming and warm. However, its history is anything but. At the height of Europe's witch trials in the 1600s, a greedy maniac named Jindřich František Boblig tortured, burned, and decapitated nearly a hundred innocent people on these grounds. In 1678, Boblig headed a witch commission, which was soon burning women at the stake for crimes such as smuggling communion bread in a prayer book. Boblig oversaw the burning of entire families at the stake, torturing them into admitting false confessions and often confiscating their wealth. The seemingly pristine chateau is a poignant example of how beautiful things can originate from ugliness.

8. Macocha Abyss, Vilémovice

article-image

The abyss is 138 meters deep and home to a grim local legend. (Photo: Doronenko/CC BY-SA 3.0)

This brooding abyss, also referred to as the Macocha Gorge, is the deepest sinkhole in Central Europe. It’s not only home to rare flowers and a three-kilometer-long (1.86-mile) walkway, but also a grim local legend. Its nickname? Propast Macocha, or "The Stepmother Abyss," a name that can be traced back to the tale of a once widowed stepmother and her unwanted stepson. When the stepmother remarried and had a son of her own, she lured her stepson to the edge of the Machocha Gorge and then pushed him into the abyss. Miraculously, the boy survived and was rescued, spurring the local townspeople to throw his stepmother into the abyss instead. At 138 meters deep, the gorge is part of a vast underground system formed by the Punkva River, which runs through the Moravian karst in the eastern Czech Republic. It is one of the few places where the underground river sees daylight.


article-image

These posts were written in partnership with CzechTourism. For more obscure and unconventional stories, from the Land of Stories, head here.

Viewing all 11432 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images